Steering-head for vehicles.



G. F. GARRITY.

STEERING HEAD FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED r1113. 6, 1911.

1,026,504. Patented May 151912.

ll l lllll lllll ll ll WITNESSES v W ATTORNEY GEORGE FRANCIS GARRI'I'Y,F SCBANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEERING-HEAD FOR VEHICLES.

To all whom/2'1; may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon F. GAnmrrn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Steering-Head for Vehicles,of

which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to unprovements in steering heads forvehicles, and

its object is to provide a means whereby the steering head will becomeautomatically locked when released by the operator, so that should theoperator accidentally or purposely release the steering head the vehiclewill continue the course it was pursuing and any danger of the vehicleswcrving because of the lack of control of the steer ing head isavoided.

lVhile the device is designed more particularly for use with steeringwheels such as are commonly employed in automobiles, the invention maybe used with other types of steering apparatus. In accordance with thepresent invcntio the steering pillar at the end of which the steeringwheel is located traverses a hollow fixed post terminating in teeth orother suitable engaging means, and a companion member is carried by thepillar in operative relation to the toothed end of the hollow post,while the steering wheel is provided with a grip member connected to thecoacting toothed member, which latter forms one member oi a clutch ofwhich the other mcmher is the toothed end of the hollow post. The gripcarried by the steering wheel is coextensive tl'l'erewith and has anormal tcmlcncy a my from the wheel, this tendency being exerted in adirection to bring the clutch members into engagement. lVhen thesteering wheel is grasped by the operator, the grip lllOll'lllGI' yieldsreadily and the clutch member carried by the steering: pillar is movedaway from the clutch mem bcr carried by the post. so that the wheel 12be n'ianipulatcd in tie usual manner to steer the vehicle, springs bcing1 interposed ljictwecn the grip member and the steeringwheel, but thesesprings may be of a light character not obtrusive to the operator. Bythis means should the, operator from any cause release the hold on thesteering wheel, the grip meml'ier will at once move to a positioncausing: the clutch members to en gage, whereby the steering wheel isheld in the position it had under' the hand of Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed Februaryfi, 1911. Serial No. 606,993.

Patented May 14, 19 12.

the operator and the vehiclewill continue in the course it was travelingand even it an obstruction, such as would ordinarily cause a swerving ofthe vehicle, be met by the Wheels, the fixed condition of'the steeringhead will prevent anychange of relation of the wheels to the vehicle,and the latter will continue its course as before, until the operatormay again assume control of the Wheel, when by the grasping action ofthe hand of the operator on the wheel, the latter is released from itsclutched condition and may be manipulated as necessary for the'steeringof the vehicle.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, with theunderstanding, however, that while the showing of the drawings is thatof a practical embodiment of the invention, the latter is susceptible ofother embodiments, while still retaining its salient fcatures.

In the drawings:-l igure 1 is a diametric section of the steering headin the direction of its longitudinal axis, with parts in elevation. Fig.2 is an inverted plan view of the grip member applied to the steeringhead. Fin. 3 is a section on the line 3 of Fig. 1 viewing the steeringhead from below considering the ordinary position of the steering head.4 is asection on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an elevation of theclutch members with surrounding parts omitted.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a support 1 which may beconsidered as a fixed portion of the body of a vehicle, say that portionthrough which the steering pillar passes, and the. part- 1 may be takenas indicative. of an automobile or other vehicle. This member '1 isprovided with a passage 2 for a steering pillar l. which is usually inthe form of :1V shaft of appropriate long! h, and will be understood asconnected to the steering" wheels of the vehicle. although theconnections have been omitted in the drawings as unnecessary for anunderstanding of the invention. The pillar 3 is usually squared at theouter end as indicated at 4, and traverses a matching opening in a hub 5having spokes 6 carrying at their outer ends a rim 7, such as is usuallyprovided in automobiles, the rim 7 with the spokes 6 and hub 5constituting a steering wheel.

The rim 7 is shaped for convenient grasping by the hand of the operator,and in that portion which may be termed the upper or outer portion ofthe rim there is'provided a suitable number of sockets 9, each of whichholds a cup 10 housing one end of a spring .11 which may be an ordinarycoiled spring,

and of a sufiicient length so that under its normal expansion one endWlll extend above or beyond the open end of the cup 10. Tu

rim 7 and convexed on the other surface to readily fit the hand of theoperator, the grip member presenting a surface to the hand of theoperator similar to the correspondingportion of the rim of the wheel.This grip member is abutted by the springs 10 holding the grip member inplace relative to the cor respondin portion of the rim 7 when the "gripmem er is not moved toward the rim by the gripping action of the hand ofthe operator.

Each spoke is provided with a bifurcated stud 13 in which is pivoted alever 14, one end of which latter, such end being the outer end, ispivotally connected to a link 15 extending through a passage 16 formedin the spoke near the rim 7, the end of the link remote from the leverbeing pivoted between ears 17 formed on an inwardly extending tongue 18on the inner edge of the grip member 12. In the particular structureshown there are four spokes and four levers and links, and the gripmember 12 is provided with four tongues 18, each of which has a pair ofears 17. However, it will. be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact number of. members described, but may have agreater or lesser number;

The pillar 3 is surrounded by. a hollow post 19 formed with a foot 20.which may be scured to the member 1 by suitable bolts 21 or in any otherappropriate manner. The post 19 is of a less length than the distancebetween the member 1 and the end of the pillar when carryingthe steeringwheel, and at the end remote from the foot- 20 is formed into anenlargement 22 provided at the end adjacent the steering wheel with acircular series of teeth 23, the.teet-h being in' the present instanceindicated as of the ordinary square contour, but may .be. of any othersuitable form, such as are commonly used in clutch members, theenlargement 22 at the end of the post 19 constituting one member of aclutch. The other member ofthe clutch comprises a block 24 mounted onthe pillar 3 between the enlargement 22 and the steering wheel andcapable of sliding lengtlr wise of the pillar, being held against rotation with relation to the pillar by a spline or key 25 carried by thepillar. The block 24 is formed wit-h a circular series of teeth 26matching the teeth 23 and capable of entering between the teeth 23 whenthe block is moved into proper relation to the enlargement 22. The block24 is formed at the end remote from the teeth 26 with pairs of cars 27,between which the corresponding ends of the levers 14 project, and towhich these levers are pivotally connected. The parts are soproportioned that when the grip member 12' is forced away from the rim 7by the action of the springs 11 the levers 14 are turned on their pivotsby the links 15 in a direction to cause a movementof the block 24 towardthe enlargement 22 of the post 19 until the teeth 26 are in look ingengagement with the teeth 23 and because the block 24 is locked to thepillar 3 by the spline 25, the pillar 3 and steering; wheel becomelocked to the fixed post 19,

and in this position of the parts the steering pillar cannot turn withrelation to the post 19 and consequently the steering wheels are infixed relation to the vehicle, so far as their directing actionisconcerned' \Vhen the operator grasps the steering wheel in theordinary manner, the grip member 12 is moved toward the rim 7,compressing the springs 11 and through the' links 15 and levers 14 theblock 24 is moved away from the enlargement '22 until the teeth 26 arefree from the teeth 23, when the steering wheel may be manipulated inthe usual manner, the pillar 8 being then free from the post 19, and thevehicle may be steered without hindrance. Suppose that for any reasonthe operator either purposely or unintentionally releases the steeringwheel, the reaction of the springs 11 immediately moves the grippingmember 12 away from the rim 7 and through the links 15 and levers 14causes a movement of, the block 24 toward the enlargement 22 until. theteeth 26 seatbetween the teeth 23, when the pillar 3 is locked to thefixed post 19 and the steering wheels are-then in fixed relation to thevehicle, so far as the steering action is concerned, so that the vehicleis constrained to continue along the course it had been traveling, andshould the wheels, while the operator is not contro ing the steeringhead, come into contact" I 'th any obstruction, such wheels are notthrown to one side to cause a swerving of the vehicle any more thanwould occur were the operators hand controlling the steering wheel. Infact there is less-likelihood of the vehicie swerving by meeting anobstruction with the steering wheel locked than when only under. thecontrol of the operator. As soon wheel it is readily unlocked by theordinary action of the hand in grasping it, and the vehicle may then becontrolled by the operator in the usual manner.

It will be observed that the grip member 12 is circular and covers thatportlonof the the grip member beneath the rim 7 that is on the sidethereof remote from the operator.

The grip member is always in position tobe readily grasped by the handof the operator whatever may be the position of the wheel with referenceto its rotativ'e movement and pressure applied at any point about thegrip member will, because of the several'lever and link connections withthe clutch member, cause the grip memberto move toward or from the rim aall points simultaneously. While the springs have been shown as carriedby cups 10, it will be understood that these cups may be omitted.

What is claimed is 1. Ina steering head for vehicles, a steering wheel,a steering pillar, an annular grip member carried by the steering wheelwith springs interposedbetween said grip member and the rim of thesteering wheel, a clutch having one member connected directly to thesteering pillar for rotation therewith, and another member fixedlyconnected to a non-rotatable part of the vehicle,

and connections between the grip memberand the member of the clutchcarried by the pillar.

2. In a steering head for vehicles, a steering wheel, springs carried bythe rim of the steering wheel on the side thereof toward the operator,an annular grip member carried by the springs, a clutch for connectingthe steering wheel to a fixed part of the vehicle, and connections.betweenthe grip member and the clutch, said connections comprising aseries of levers carried by the,

wheel in radial relation thereto and each connected at one end to aclutch, and link members .each connected at one end to a respectivelever and at'the other end to the gripmemher.

3. In a steering head for vehicles, a. steering pillar, a steering wheelat one end of said steering pillar, a hollow pest traversed by thepillar and fixed'with reference thereto, said post terminating at theend toward the steering wheel in a clutch head, a. clutch blockrotatable with the steering pillar and carried by the latter in operativrelation to the clutch head on the pillar, a series of levers carried bythe steering wheel and each connected at one end to the clutch block, alink for each lever extending throughithe steering wheel to the sidethereof remote from the lever, a circular grip memberlon the side of thesteering wheel remote from the clutch, said grip member being connectedto the links at the ends thereof remote from the levers, and springsinterpo sed between the grip member and the steering wheel and tendingnormally to move the grip member away from the steering wheel.

4. In a steering head for vehicles, a'steer-' ing pillar, a steeringwheel at one end of said steering pillar, a hollow post traversed by thepillar and fixed with reference thereto, said post terminating at theend toward the steering wheel in a clutch head, a clutch block rotatablewith the steering pillar and carried by theJatter in operative relationto the clutch head on the pillar, a series of lovers carried by thesteering wheel and each connected at one end to the clutch block, a linkfor each lever extendin through the steering wheel to the side t ereofremote from the lever, an annular grip member of concavo-convex crosssection having tongues and ears on the inner edge connected to the endsof the links remote from the levers, the ,grip member conforming to theshape of the steering wheel, and springs lnterposed between the steeringwheel and the concaved .face of the grip member.

V GEORGE FRANCIS GARRITY.

Witnesses:

Tnos. GARnrrY, his. A. O MALLEY.

